1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the displaying of online presence of a user of an instant messenger (IM) or an instant messaging (IM) system. Specifically, the displayed online presence can be scheduled in advanced by the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Instant messaging (IM) allows users to exchange information, such as text messages, files, voice, and videos, in real-time. The information exchanges occur between two or more people, who log into a particular IM service or IM services that interface with one another. Allowing for instantaneous communication between a number of parties at the same time, instant messaging can thus transmit information quickly and efficiently, as well as receive an immediate acknowledgement or reply. Therefore IM is an effective communication and collaboration tool. With the benefit of being able to see the other party using webcams, and even talking directly for free over the internet, this form of digital communication has been widely accepted by individuals of all ages.
As described above, instant messaging (IM) offers real-time communication and allows easy collaboration. IM might be considered more akin to genuine conversation than email's “letter” format. In contrast to e-mail, the parties know whether the peer is available. On the other hand, people are not forced to reply immediately to incoming messages. For this reason, some people consider communication via instant messaging to be less intrusive than communication via phone.
Most IM services offer presence (or status) information features, which indicate whether a user is currently online and available to exchange information or is offline and unavailable. These IM systems allow a user to manually set an “online presence (or status)” or “away message” so peers are notified when the user is available, busy, or away from the computer, after the user logs into IM systems. The above mentioned IM systems set a user to be “offline” (or unavailable) when the user logs off systems. Some IM systems also allow an user to appear “offline” while the user actually logs into the IM systems. However, manually setting an “online presence” or “away message” is undesirable, since it requires extra effort of a user to remember to take such an action.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for systems and methods for setting and displaying programmable online presence information.